(Repeats with no changes to text. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)* China's steel exports: * China steel and real estate: By Andy HomeLONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Global production of crude steel rose by 5.3 percent last year, according to the World Steel Association (WSA). As remarkable as the pace of growth was the geographical spread. Only two of the...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold will be keeping January’s gains throughout the first half of 2018, according to BNP Paribas, but will face downward pressure in the second part of the year as the Federal Reserve proceeds with normalization of monetary policy.“Rising inflation expectations and a weak dollar, as long as they last, provide the support for gold’s current trading levels,” Ha...Read More
(Adds context on deal, prior bids)Feb 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsui & Co won a three-way bidding war to take over Australia's AWE Ltd , after rival bidder Mineral Resources failed to match Mitsui's offer.The Australian gas producer said in a statement that it had entered into a bid implementation deed with Mitsui for its proposed $480 million dollar takeover. AWE on Monday recommended that sh...Read More
(Refiles to make clear interview with minister was in person, not on the phone, fixes typo in second reference to Koroma)FREETOWN, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Sierra Leone's finance minister on Friday played down a decision by the IMF to delay a disbursement because of the West African country's failure to improve revenue collection, saying the fund would return in May to discuss the programme.The IMF said...Read More
US Equities In A Virtual Meltdown, Bonds & Dollar Higher, Gold Dramatically LowerAt its low today the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading off by 642 points, and as of this writing at 3:15 PM Eastern standard time the Dow is off by a little over 550 points which is a net decline of 2.11% on the day. In fact, all of the major US indices are trading dramatically lower with the Standard & Poor's...Read More
* TSX down 254.89 points, or 1.61 percent, at 15,606.03* All of the TSX's 10 main groups were trading lower (Updates share prices)TORONTO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slumped to a four-month low on Friday, with natural resource shares leading broad based declines as commodity prices dropped and higher bond yields pressured global equity markets.U.S. crude prices were down 1.1 perce...Read More
(Kitco News) - Sorry folks, Punxsutawney Phil, the famous weather pontificating groundhog, saw his shadow, which means there is still six more weeks of winter left. And on the topic of looming shadows, gold prices are looking to end the week in negative territory with analysts saying that gold could be entering a consolidation phase, faced with an uncertain outlook. The price action is a sud...Read More
(Kitco News) - As the saying goes: “to the victor go the spoils.”And there is a lot on the line as the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots meet in Minneapolis for Super Bowl LII, on the field and off.The competition for football dominance is not just played in the stadium, but in jewelry and precious metals as Super Bowl rings get more intricate and include more attitude....Read More
With some profit taking on tap when gold’s 6-week rally paused for a bit last week, the GDX has been sold down to strong support at the $23 level. The major miner ETF move up from its mid-December low was stopped cold just before it could reach long-term resistance at the $25 region, when it had a strong volume intra-day reversal from this critical level on January 25th. Since then, the mine...Read More
(Kitco News) - The uptrend in gold prices might not be able to outlast the winter as bond yields are surging higher into the weekend, increasing the yellow metal’s opportunity costs. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Friday, which means six more weeks of winter. Can the gold rally last that long too? Image courtesy of Alessandro M. Friday, Punxsutawney Phil, the famous weather pontificati...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold is expected to see a sustained rally on the back of a weakening dollar, overvalued stock markets, and heightening geo-political tensions, according to a report from Sucden Financial.In the near term, analysts at the international brokerage firm said they see a modest retracement in the yellow metal to $1,320 an ounce before climbing higher to test resistance at $1,400 an ounce,...Read More
(Kitco News) - For the first time this year, there is a sharp divergence between Wall Street and Main Street in the weekly Kitco News gold survey. Wall Street Bullish Bearish Neutral VS Main Street Bullish Bearish Neutral The majority of traders and analysts who make up the Wall Street poll look for the yellow metal to remain on the defensive next week, while Kitc...Read More
Editor's Note: Welcome to Kitco's new Bitcoin Daily Technical Alert. Every trading day veteran Kitco technical analyst Jim Wyckoff will provide you with a concise and easy-to-understand near-term technical brief on Bitcoin. Importantly, Jim will glean the short-term charts and technical studies, and then alert you to the signals he sees regarding upcoming potential bigger price moves or price tren...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday February 2.The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday February 2.Lead prices on the London Metal Exchange were 1.7% higher at the close on Thursday February 1, with the metal continuing its fine performance since the turn of 2018. Read more here in our live futures report.Here are how LME prices looked at Thursd...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday February 2.The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday February 2.Lead prices on the London Metal Exchange were 1.7% higher at the close on Thursday February 1, with the metal continuing its fine performance since the turn of 2018. Read more here in our live futures report.Here are how LME prices looked at Thursd...Read More
Lead and tin were the only base metals on the London Metal Exchange to close the week in positive territory, while the rest of the complex came under pressure from a strengthening dollar.The three-month lead price continued to trade around a fresh six and a half year high and was at $2,680 per tonne at the 5pm close. "Data on the ground also supports the bullish LME lead market, which was often un...Read More
Shigemoto Toma, who was Goldman Sachs' senior aluminium trader until November, is joining Macquarie bank in Singapore, Metal Bulletin understands. Toma will join Macquarie's base metals trading team on February 8 and will help the bank grow its physical...Read More
Deliverable zinc stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses increased 13,216 tonnes or 16.2% week on week to 94,769 tonnes as of Friday February 2. Metal Bulletin last assessed Shanghai-bonded zinc stocks at around 203,000-205,000 tonnes at the end of January, up 29.5% from 155,000-160,000 tonnes on January 3 and 92.5% compared to January 2017. Stock levels have predominantly be...Read More
Finnish metal processing technology provider Outotec forecasts growth in demand for many metals, with sentiment in both the mining and metals industries expected to improve in 2018."In 2018, our target is to grow our sales as well as improve profitability. Together with improved market sentiment, global [trends] - such as resource efficiency, sustainability and digitization - provide us with good...Read More
Metal Bulletin has today discontinued five grades of zircon.After a consultation period, Metal Bulletin has today suspended the following five grades of zircon, effective February 2, 2018: Zircon, ceramic grade, bulk, CIF South Africa, $/tonneZircon, Ceramic grade, Bulk, FOB South Africa, $/tonneZircon, premium grade, bulk, FOB USA, $/tonneZircon, standard grade, bulk, FOB USA, $/tonneZircon stand...Read More